Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 35: Serial Murder in the Middle of the Night (5)

When I was a kid, I splurged on a handheld gaming console from my parents.

It’s now broken, lost, and unplayable, but the games I played on it are part of my cherished memories.

One of those memories was a deduction game.

The famous handheld game where you solve riddles to get to the truth about the town.

In that game, there was a scene where a Ferris wheel suddenly broke down and rolled towards the main characters.

Somehow, no matter how much they ran away, the Ferris wheel didn’t slow down and even changed direction, catching up to them.

Although it later turns out that the villain was controlling its movement.

But even with that in mind, it was clear that it was a work of fiction and therefore unrealistic.

Right.

It’s the kind of thing that can only happen if there are unwritten rules.

* * *

Koo-koo-koo…….

The Ferris wheel, with its support destroyed, began to roll in the direction it had been spinning.

It easily smashed through the obstacles it encountered, and at the same time, its speed only increased.

“Good.”

I glided along, hooking my grappling hooks into the rolling Ferris wheel.

I had no control over the direction this Ferris wheel would move, but it didn’t matter.

Obviously, the unwritten rule is that the Ferris wheel will chase Jung Sewon.

“What is that……!!”

Once outside, Jung Sewon watched the Ferris wheel approaching in disbelief.

It was a situation where he was being attacked by a phenomenon caused by his own characteristics but this was the only path I could take.

“Ugh… Ugh!!!”

Jung Sewon had maintained a steady demeanor the whole time.

Even the devil turned around and ran away as soon as he saw the rolling Ferris wheel in front of him.

All of his abilities that had driven him forward were now being used solely for self-protection.

Perhaps his power would have been enough to stop or destroy the Ferris wheel but his mind, consumed by fear, could not conceive of any other option.

He doesn’t know his own limits.

Those who have awakened a story are still at that point.

It’s ironic that a man who can easily think of killing can’t muster the courage to stay in front of a Ferris wheel.

“Heh, heh, heh……!!”

Jung Sewon sped up to avoid being caught.

It must be exhausting, but he has no other choice.

The Ferris wheel is right behind him, and he won’t have time to swerve or catch his breath.

I stared at the amusement park path ahead of me.

If I keep going down, I’ll come to a fork in the road.

If you do it wrong, you might end up swerving off the Ferris wheel there.

I can’t let that happen.

[Puppetry of the Dead]

[Puppets will be crafted until the specified materials are used up!]

As I reach for the Ferris wheel, the seats are dismantled and reassembled.

The puppet was attached to the Ferris wheel as if on a conveyor belt, slowly taking shape.

It was finished just before it hit the ground, making a crunching sound as it cut through the solid metal.

“Get away from me!”

The puppets fell in front of him, blocking his path or clinging to him, impeding his movement.

Their durability was so low that they could be destroyed with a wave of his hand, but it was enough to further deplete his stamina.

-Bang! Bang!

Jung Sewon smashed the flying puppet, grabbed the one clinging to his back, and slammed it to the ground.

His breathing quickened as the Ferris wheel got closer to him, even the speed of his arm swings slowed.

Every change was noticeable.

As I continued my assault, a status window appeared in front of me.

[Doll production has stopped.]

All the seats have already been turned into dolls.

With all the seats gone, the Ferris wheel was now just a giant wheel.

With no room for me to interfere, I could only watch the outcome.

Would the Ferris wheel catch up with Jung Sewon?

Or would it not catch up until the fork in the road.

Unfortunately, the outcome went in a direction I didn’t want.

When a wide fork appeared with a downhill slope, Jung Sewon immediately turned and ran out of the Ferris wheel’s path.

“Ha, hahaha……!”

Jung Sewon laughed ruefully.

For a brief moment, I expected the unwritten rules to somehow change the Ferris wheel’s path but the Ferris wheel was going right past him with no sign of stopping.

“……Damn it.”

Alas, the Ferris wheel had already begun its downhill descent.

It’s the worst.

It was just one step forward.

I’ve been able to use his traits to tire him out, but I can’t overpower him.

I’m at the end of my rope, and I can’t close the gap in Awareness Rating.

If I miss this opportunity, I really don’t have a choice.

……So, I can’t give up.

I apply a grappling hook to the rolling Ferris wheel, pulling it forward quickly, and release it at just the right moment.

My accelerated body floats through the air at the same speed as the Ferris wheel for a moment.

I pulled out my baton again.

Already ready, it glowed a reddish color that rivaled the Ferris wheel’s lights.

I use the narrative I’ve built up as a weapon.

To be used in any situation, to grow stronger with each use, over and over again.

I twisted and turned in mid-air, steadied myself, and swung the baton at the Ferris wheel once more.

Kwaaang-!!!

It was my final attack, using all of my remaining strength.

With a single impact, the Ferris wheel’s flesh crunched and tilted sideways as it continued downhill.

“Eh……?”

The movement of the Ferris wheel wasn’t what I expected.

I had vaguely thought that if I hit it hard enough, it might change the direction it was rolling but instead of rolling like a wheel, the Ferris wheel completely lost its center of gravity, tilted wildly to the side–

-Boom!

It fell on Jung Sewon, who was running in the opposite direction.

At the same time, the lights of the amusement park finally went out.

I landed safely on the wire and approached Jung Sewon.

Luckily, he wasn’t dead, but he had been crushed by the heavy Ferris wheel and was lying unconscious.

The lights in the amusement park went out again.

“……I wasn’t thinking fast enough.”

I shouldn’t have pushed the Ferris wheel and tried to change direction.

There’s an easier way.

[Text Thief Lv. 6 → 7]

[Puppetry of the Dead Lv. 1 → 3]

* * * *

I pulled out Jung Sewon from under the Ferris wheel and checked his condition.

His Awareness rating was high, so his life wasn’t in danger, but his injuries were severe, and it looked like he wouldn’t wake up for a while.

Even if he did wake up, it would take a long time for him to recover.

Thus, the killing spree ended when the ringleader collapsed and didn’t make it past dawn.

The accomplices would not act alone unless ordered to do so.

“Haaaaah…….”

I sank to the ground and removed the mask I had been wearing for a moment.

The mask had broken when I fell to the roof, leaving my eyes uncovered.

I’m going to get yelled at for being careless and already breaking it.

‘…I shouldn’t rest yet.’

I know it’s not over once he’s knocked out.

I need to find a way to subdue him before he recovers, and I need to find a way to keep this murder from being recognized.

If he were to die, it would be all over, but…….

I can’t kill people.

“What’s been going on since the first day of the year…….?”

I’ve never had an event of this magnitude happen so early in Dreams game.

The game is supposed to get harder gradually, around Episode 7, but if you’re unlucky, you’ll get a high difficulty event in Episode 5.

I wonder why it happened today.

Was it because unlike games, there’s no difficulty ramps in real life?

Like [NEW GAME], is there some unknown factor at play?

……Maybe the unwritten rules just want me to say something like, “It’s a different story than the original.”

For some reason, the last one seems the most likely, although I have no proof.

I got up.

It wasn’t enough, but I had to get out of here before sunrise.

If I stall, someone might come looking for me at any moment.

-Buuuuuuuuuu

……At that moment, I heard the faintest sound of a car in the distance.

The moment I realized what it meant, a sigh escaped my lips.

My chance to get out of this place before someone came was gone.

What kind of people came?

I fired the hook and scanned the outside of the amusement park from high above.

There weren’t just one or two cars parked at the entrance to the park.

Several police cars were flashing their lights, and a few people who appeared to be reporters were pulling film equipment out of vans to take pictures of the park.

This is the kind of group that typically shows up after a major accident.

Well, the park’s lights were still flickering and the Ferris wheel was completely smashed.

It wasn’t like there weren’t people coming, no matter how early in the morning.

Or maybe I heard the sound too late, and the police had already gotten ready to come.

Oh no.

They can’t get in yet because the gate is closed, but it’s only a matter of time.

They’re going to break down the door or pry it open and come in to find out what’s going on.

But I haven’t even figured out how I’m going to handle the situation yet…….

“Ah!”

I clap my hands as I see Jung Sewon on the ground, and then I have an idea.

The police had arrived in the first place as a result of his impromptu inducement.

He wanted to dispose of me in the most conspicuous way possible, and then reveal that he was responsible for everything that happened in the early morning.

But it’s me, not him, who’s standing here now.

‘He said he needed to get rid of me for his plan.’

I remembered the words of the fallen Jung Sewon.

If I’m here, I’ll share the credit for the murder, and to stop it, I have to disappear.

He was right but I don’t necessarily have to kill my opponent.

If I let the world know that I won, if I let the world remember me, then the Unwritten Rules will only recognize me.

Jung Sewon will only be recognized as a loser.

The serial killing in the middle of the night is my story from now on.

* * *

Outside the amusement park, there was also chaos.

In the midst of dealing with murders all over the place, there were reports that the park was collapsing.

People were already on high alert, so police commandos were dispatched to the scene.

After opening the main gate, the commandos went inside.

The park was eerily quiet.

There was no sign of the security team that was supposed to be patrolling, and no sign of anyone breaking in but someone is definitely inside.

The personnel waiting outside couldn’t find anyone who had escaped.

The SWAT team slowly approached the inside of the amusement park, searching the area thoroughly.

It wasn’t long before they found the overturned Ferris wheel.

It was quite a distance away from where it had been.

There, a masked man stood with a fallen man at his feet.

The mask was half cracked, revealing the corners of his eyes.

“Hands up!”

The officers pointed their guns at him and the flashlight attached to the rifle illuminated the man.

At the same time, the officers realized that the fallen man’s head belonged to a goat.

Soon, the man lifted the goat-headed man up and spoke.

His voice was modulated, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“All the murders that took place at dawn this morning were the work of this goat-head and his accomplices, and I have subdued them!”

“Put down what you have in your hands!”

“The evidence is on his cell phone, you’ll have to see for yourself.”

The man throws his unlocked cell phone into the grass and breathes a silent sigh of relief as the commandos retrieve the phone with alertness.

The whole thing was captured on camera by a journalist who accompanied him.

“This is no ordinary man, and ordinary restraints won’t work. Find someone special and ask them to help you.”

The man pulled what looked like a small harpoon gun from his arm and fired it high into the air.

His body shot up into the air, following the hook of the shot.

The police followed the man’s movements, pointing their guns high, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Later, a reporter on the scene checked the footage he had recorded.

For some reason, right after the man finished speaking, he was no longer on the screen, as if he had been artificially erased.